Fruit of The Spirit: Kindness (devotion)

My niece Tiffany’s day was like so many others. She woke up her toddler twins, fed them, and got them ready for speech therapy. Then she got them lunch and put them down for a nap. When they woke up it was time for physical therapy where Seth screamed for the entire hour-long session. Back at home she spent a couple of hours on the phone being transferred from person to person at her insurance company. Carter’s special piece of equipment had been denied because one had already been approved for the family. Apparently, it was too difficult for the insurance company to comprehend she needed two standers because she had two boys. When she finally talked with a reasonably intelligent person, Tiffany was told the paperwork would have to be filed again. Then she got to spend five minutes with her husband, my nephew Randy, before running out the door to her job as a waitress. She spent the evening on her feet, carrying trays and taking orders. At the end of her long, stressful day, a customer looked at her and said, “You’re going to Hell because you have a tattoo.”


Was his goal evangelism? The purpose of evangelism is to spread the gospel of Christ. Some may say Christ acted this way to others, but that’s not the case. The only people to whom Christ was rude were the religious hypocrites. All others He treated with kindness—His followers (Mark 6:30), sinners (John 8:11), the sick (Luke 8:48), foreigners (Matt 8:10), and many, many more. This customer was not demonstrating the kindness that marked Jesus’s ministry.

Was his goal to turn Tiffany from her sin? I want to be clear here that I don’t agree that tattoos are a sin. This man, however, believed it enough to publicly rebuke a stranger. He didn’t know Tiffany, didn’t know anything about her, yet he felt perfectly justified speaking those unkind words because she was a sinner in his eyes. However when Paul writes about correcting a brother, he says it should be done “gently and humbly.” (Gal 6:1)

Whatever this guy's goal, all he achieved was making an amazing mother, who sacrifices for her family, feel terrible. What a difference a little kindness would have made in her difficult day. Even if her life was great—filled with rainbows and butterflies—a simple “Thanks. Dinner was great,” and a nice tip would have been a blessing. Proverbs 16:24 says, “Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” We Christians should be giving out honey, not vinegar.

Whether we are witnessing, correcting, or simply going about our day, our actions and words should be clothed in kindness. In this way, we are truly ambassadors for Christ.